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Last Successful Congressional Impeachment?

Actually, there have been two other convictions since Hastings.

Alcee L. Hastings, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the South+ern District of Florida, was impeached on charges of perjury and conspiring to solicit a bribe. He was removed from office in 1989, but went on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives for two decades.

Can somebody direct me to the prison run by Congress? Do they have a chain gang responsible for a section of the mall? How about, where does one pay a fine? Does Congress take a check, money order or Visa? Why hasn’t anybody answered these questions before?

The simple answer is that in the normal course of business, Congress doesn’t do any of that shit, for all its airs and pretensions it is not an investigative or law enforcement agency. It has the power of subpoena. It can issue contempt citations. Theoretically, it can arrest, both houses have a Sergeant of Arms. Here’s hoping they have a spare bedroom. because when it comes to housing prisoners Congress has a holding cell, but no dedicated jail. I suspect that since impeachment is a political process long-term incarceration will pose a problem.The holding cell is good for about eight hours. After that, the US Marshall can refuse a prisoner not accompanied by a proper commitment order signed the by a judge of a competent court.

The reality is the main impediment to a completed investigation is Congress. Nobody takes them seriously, themselves included. Investigative agencies have a legitimate interest in keeping their criminal investigations closely held. They need to get their evidence before a judge and jury in order to obtain a criminal conviction. Something that may never happen should testimony or evidence leak ahead of time, via Congress. I am not defending the Fan Belt Inspectors. Timely indictments, given over long ago would have given both sides a chance to follow the evidence in open court.

The last time Congress was left to their own devices, was 1989 when Congress impeached Alcee Hastings for Soliciting a Bribe. He was removed from the Federal District Court Bench and spent the next twenty years as a member of Congress. That worked out well.